The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $300 million additional financing to expand and extend the provision of cash transfers to poor and vulnerable Lebanese households.
A World Bank statement said Thursday that the approval will further support the development of a unified social safety net delivery system in Lebanon to allow a better response to ongoing and future shocks.
This new package represents the second additional financing to the Emergency Crisis and COVID-19 Response Social Safety Net Project (ESSN) project ($246 million) originally approved in January 2021 to help Lebanon address the impact of the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic on the poor and vulnerable population.
The project already benefited from a first additional financing of $4 million in May last year.
“This second additional financing will continue to help Lebanon protect its population from the impact of various crises, as well as help the country develop a targeted and digital social safety net system,” said the statement.
“Going forward, Lebanon would need to secure the fiscal space needed to finance social protection needs, including social safety nets, over the long term,” it said.
The additional financing will enable the Lebanese government to continue to respond to the growing needs of poor and vulnerable households, said World Bank Middle East Country Director Jean-Christophe Carret.
